EILE Magazine: Issue 03 (August)

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EILE

Magazine Issue 03 – August 2013

Adam Goldman:

The Midas Touch

on his new webseries

California Dispatch:

Proposition 8

Daniel Robinson – In Conversation

African Pride

Exploring South Africa’s LGBT Life

Inside: Marie-Antoinette | Explaining Homophobia | Sochi 2014

EILE Magazine | Who’s Who

Contributors Jon Beaupré Jon is a Professor of TV, Film & Media at California State University, Los Angeles He also contributes to the international LGBT radio show, This Way Out.

Scott De Buitléir Scott is the creator of EILE Magazine and is a writer and broadcaster from Dublin.

He also hosts The Cosmo, RTÉ’s LGBT radio show every Wednesday at 10pm.

Dr. Shay Keating Shay has his clinic at the Harold’s Cross Surgery in south Dublin and is an associate specialist in Genitourinary Medicine at St. James’ Hospital, Dublin.

Gareth Russell Gareth is a native of Belfast and studied History at the University of Oxford. His first non-fiction book, a history of the British monarchy, is due out later this year.

Andrew Smith Andrew is a student of medicine at University College Dublin, and has also been a blogger for a number of years, writing on youth issues.

Frances Winston Frances Winston has contributed to publications such as The Irish Independent and Irish Tatler and is a regular contributor to The Daily Update.

EILE Magazine | Welcome

Highlights August 2013 Whatever This Is, It’s Gonna Be Good Adam Goldman talks about his latest series and the success of The Outs

A Game of Guesswork

Volume 1, Issue 03 Editor-in-Chief: Scott De Buitléir Features Editor: MKB Writers: Jon Beaupré, Shay Keating, Gareth Russell, Andrew Smith, Frances Winston

Singer/songwriter Daniel Robinson talks about his new EP, and why he’ll never touch a ukelele again.

Illustrator: Anthony Zagariko

California Dispatch

Cover Image: Adam Goldman, taken by Michael Popp

Jon Beaupré looks at the effect of Proposition 8

Photographers: Michael Popp (NYC), Honey and the Moon Photography (Belfast)

Special Thanks to MKB for all her hard work, dedication and support.

Web: http://eile.ie

Poor Souls: Marie-Antoinette and early LGBT literature Is it possible that the infamous French queen was a lesbian?

Contact: eilemagazine@outlook.com Twitter: @EileMagazine Facebook: http://fb.com/eilemagazine Note: All opinions expressed in this issue are the writers’ own.

African Pride Documentary maker Laura Fletcher talks to EILE about LGBT life in South Africa.

EILE Magazine 3

EILE Magazine | Editor’s Letter

Contents 5-

Trans Rights in Ireland

6-

Daniel Robinson

8-

LGBT News Round-Up

8-

Adam Goldman

12 -

Proud to be Me

13 - IOC Statement on Sochi 15 - African Pride 16 -

California Dispatch

18 -

Explaining Homophobia

20 -

Civil Partnership: 2

Years On

21 -

LGBT Adoptive Parents

22 -

Australian PM and Putin

27 -

Book Review: Wilde

Stages in Dublin

32 -

Hep C Infection

& Treatment

34 -

Film Reviews

36 -

Marie-Antoinette

40 - Picture Perfect 45 -

Baton Rouge

Editor’s Letter Scott De Buitléir

| Editor-in-Chief

There’s a lot of information floating around the net about what can or should be done to protest Russia’s laws against the so-called ‘propaganda of non-traditional relationships’. To resign oneself to the idea that we, outside Russia, are unable to make a difference, would be defeatist.

Crowds put pressure on their politicians, who in turn can put pressure on other politicians, diplomats and groups, who can act on our behalf.

While that is not being naïve enough to think that every politician and/or diplomat will be noble, it means that at least some are brave enough to make their voices heard. This can already be seen through likes of Jón Gnarr (Mayor of Reykjavík) and Carl Bildt (Sweden’s Foreign Minister) and Mark Brzezinski (the US ambassador to Sweden) who have all publicly criticized the Russian Government within the last few weeks.

Pride festivals, such as the ones which took place in Amsterdam and Stockholm recently, are able to give the LGBT community a platform to protest what has been decided in St. Petersburg and Moscow. While the Pride season is over for many cities already, we are still able to rally together and see what can be done to support LGBT people in Russia, regardless of how far away from them we may be. For example, a community meeting is being held in Outhouse, Dublin’s LGBT centre, to see what the Irish can do to help. Already, though, an open letter was sent to the Russian embassy in Dublin condemning the new laws, which numerous politicians signed among others.

Boycotts, however noble in their ideology, are a slightly different matter.

The idea of boycotting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi has opened debate over who that would damage more, i.e. Russia or the athletes.

While boycotting them may be a noble idea, it also turns our backs on LGBT people in Russia. Then again, travelling to Sochi with the intention of ‘showing solidarity’ to the LGBT community will almost inevitably lead to arrest. A third option needs to be found here, I think.

Similarly, the boycott of Russian products, such as vodka, has been found to be effective, but only slightly. Stolichnaya Vodka have gotten into a strange situation by supposedly ‘supporting’ the LGBT community and publicly condemning what the Russian Government has done, yet Queer Nation have noted that “Stolichnaya only spoke up after the boycott was announced. Friends do not keep silent when those they claim to value are under attack.” While many can cast a critical, if not cynical eye on their moves, it shows that actions such as boycotts can be effective.

Regardless of where you are, the only thing that will truly do nothing to help our Russian LGBT friends is inaction. There is growing pressure from the media, public and politicians on this issue, and we have only seen the beginning.

That is why we cannot give up now.

EILE Magazine 4

Comment | Trans Rights

A Very Irish Solution To Trans Rights Last month, the Irish government launched draft legislation regarding gender recognition for transgender people, which Ireland’s trans community has been waiting to see for years. In what can only be described as an Irish solution to a global issue, however, Joan Burton, Minister for Social Protection, launched the draft legislation with little to no consultation with LGBT organizations. In fact, not a single trans rights activist knew about the launch last Wednesday. They weren’t even invited to the event.

As the trans community in Ireland has been waiting years for gender recognition, one could be forgiven for assuming that the draft legislation would be welcome. Indeed, while most groups do welcome the bill in the sense that there is now something on the table to discuss, most are of the opinion that Ireland’s plans are pretty half-hearted.

Broden Giambrone, Director of Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI), said that Minister Burton’s draft legislation was “a welcome step forward, [but] it has not gone far enough.” Speaking on The Cosmo, a national LGBT radio show, Giambrone explained that while TENI had not been made aware of the government’s plans to publish the draft legislation, he was hopeful that it showed a willingness for Ireland to move forward on the issue of gender recognition.

Max Krzyzanowski, who became Mr. Gay World in 2009 and has since become one of Ireland’s

most vocal LGBT activists, was much more critical of the draft legislation, calling it “deeply upsetting and concerning.”

Also speaking on national Irish radio recently, Krzyzanowski recounted speaking to Minister Bruton in 2011 about the bizarre proposals that the government’s Gender Recognition Advisory Group (GRAG) had made, including requiring a married trans person to divorce (“which is directly contrary to the [Irish] Constitution,” he added).

Another proposed requirement is that persons must be over 18, which has raised the concern of LGBT youth groups in the country. “This restriction will have a devastating impact,’’ explained Michael Barron, Executive Director of BeLonG To, Ireland’s national organization for LGBT young people. “It will completely reinforce the extreme isolation, invisibility and vulnerability of trans young people. Research [in Ireland] and abroad has shown that trans young people face particular isolation in their schools and communities. They urgently need legal recognition, along with access to appropriate health, education, legal and other supports.”

“What is also deeply upsetting and concerning,” Krzyzanowski added, “is the manner in which this whole process has been done. The GRAG [...] didn’t contain any medical experts and it didn’t contain any input from trans activists. Nobody on the GRAG was trans.” Krzyzanowski

also added that Ireland’s draft legislation seems to have been modeled on similar legislation in the neighboring United Kingdom, although the UK’s law “is now being overhauled because of all these shortcomings in it.”

To say that Ireland has been given plenty of time to come up with adequate gender recognition legislation would be a massive understatement. In 2007 the Irish state was found (by its own High Court) to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, as the state refused to amend Dr. Lydia Foy’s birth certificate, thereby refusing to officially recognize her as a trans woman. The result came 10 years after Dr. Foy had begun legal proceedings against the Irish government, and she is still awaiting an amended birth certificate to this day. The Irish government appealed the High Court’s ruling but withdrew the appeal three years later, in 2010, and instead set up a committee on the legal recognition of transgender people.

So where now? Giambrone explained that the draft bill will go forward to a Committee on Education and Social Protection, which is where potential changes can be made before it is presented to Dáil Éireann, Ireland’s lower house of parliament. In the meantime, it seems that the trans community in Ireland are not too pleased with how their government is addressing them, despite the years they’ve had to get things right.

– SDB EILE Magazine 5

Interview | Daniel Robinson

A Game of Guesswork New York native Daniel Robinson chats about his music, his work for human rights and why he’ll never touch a ukelele again. Words by Scott De BuitlÊir

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Interview | Daniel Robinson

By simply talking to him, you wouldn’t expect Daniel Robinson to be anything other than a friendly, outgoing young guy. Instead, the young singer/ songwriter from Buffalo, NY, is something of a dark horse. iHeartRadio have called him an ‘Artist to Watch,’ having won the international John Lennon Songwriting competition in 2011. He recently released his latest EP, Guesswork, and when he’s not writing music, he’s campaigning for human rights with such organisations as the Human Rights Campaign and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. Clearly, Robinson isn’t the kind of guy to laze about.

For one who has achieved so much already, Daniel is surprisingly unassuming and humble. When asked about how he started his music career, he treats his story in a way that’s almost dismissive. “I was playing around with the ukelele,” he reminisces of his schooldays, “and I always liked to write, so I put my words together with the chords, and I kept going.” It sounds amazingly simple when he puts it like that, which makes you wonder how he came about winning an international song competition with his début EP, NORTH. After some time joking about his ukelele (which he swore never to touch again) Daniel explains that his latest EP, Guesswork, is based on a relationship which clearly didn’t have a happy ending. “I went into the studio and had a bunch of songs written from spending a year with an asshole,” Robinson explains, echoing the

inspiration that led to Adele’s and Born This Way Foundation on his Taylor Swift’s fame. Does he want list, and yet still remains humble to emulate them, in that case? about them.

“No, I don’t wanna do that,” he assures me, “though Adele has a lovely voice! I tried to coat things in metaphors so that I don’t sound whiney.” And it doesn’t

“I’ve done some gigs for my friend who runs the local chapter of Lady Gaga’s [Born This Way] Foundation, but it’s my friend that does a lot of the work. He pushes

I can be a little hot-headed as an activist, so I like to use music as a way to speak to people.

– far from it, in fact. Guesswork is pop perfection; reminiscent of 80s synth while keeping loyal to the 21st Century. Running With The Wolves is definitely the most well-rounded track on the EP, with a timeless feel, while Not Your Boy is more experimental, starting off like a Savage Garden single before a brief dubstep cameo.

Halcyonic is definitely the most modern-sounding of the EP, with an upbeat pop track to finish off the experience.

“I kinda did [Guesswork] like a story. Not Your Boy was the arc… it was just about possessive people [who think] that you should be something or be a certain way, and this is just a way of telling them that you’re not. It’s probably the most honest that the record gets.”

it, but I help whenever I can. I can be a little hot-headed as an activist, so I like to use music as a way to speak to people.”

Currently working on his first album, Robinson clearly has a bright future ahead of him in the music world.

Guesswork is currently available on iTunes and Bandcamp, and can be previewed by clicking the artwork below.

For more information, visit iamdanielrobinson.com.

While most musicians find their work cut out for them by trying to establish a less-than-stable career, Daniel also manages to find the time to work for various charities and human rights organisations.

He has groups such as FCKH8, Human Rights Watch and the EILE Magazine 7

Interview | Adam Goldman

The Midas Touch Adam Goldman on his latest webseries, Whatever this is.

8 EILE Magazine

Interview | Adam Goldman Finding the time to catch Adam Goldman for a chat is not an easy task. When he’s not writing, directing or acting in one of his own projects, he’s impressing The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and countless others in the media -- and that’s before I even mention the fans. When he finishes any of that, does he hang up his hat and cross it all off the bucket list? Oh no, he simply dives into an even bigger project.

As you do.

Despite what can only be a ridiculously busy schedule, when I manage to get the 20-something Massachusetts native on the phone, he’s relaxed, upbeat and friendly -- just as if he were ready for a catch-up with his best friend.

He had spent the previous day filming some scenes for his latest Web series, Whatever this is., with Scottish actor Alan Cumming having a cameo role. With actors of such a high caliber taking part in his work, does Goldman realize just how talented he and his team are? It seems not; instead, he is refreshingly humble about the reaction that his first series, The Outs, has received.

“That’s the power of the internet,” he explains. “How could I have known that a kid in China would be sending me these very sweet emails in broken English? That’s incredible. That’s more of a reach than I had ever hoped.”

To call Goldman’s The Outs a success would be a severe understatement. The story, told in seven episodes, was based on two young men who adjust to life after they had ended their relationship (“the half-life of love,” as Goldman himself poetically describes it). The show contained some brilliant writing and impressive acting, and that’s before you mention a cameo role for Cumming, who had become

a fan of the show by the time the team were about to shoot their final episode. It appeared that Goldman had discovered something of a Midas touch.

Adam continues to tell me the story of a fan who grew up in a conservative, Mormon household in Salt Lake City and was coming to grips with being gay. Having watched Goldman’s début series, the fan wrote to him and explained how glad he was to have found gay characters that he could relate to.

“If I know that there’s one person out there,” Goldman explains, “whose day-to-day [life] is changed because of the work that we’re doing, that’s what I want.”

While The Outs ran the risk of falling into a gay niche audience, the quality of its production made sure that it wasn’t just gay men who were flocking to Goldman’s Vimeo channel. “It just started to be a thing where people were saying, ‘No, it’s just good,’” he recalls, relieved and reassured at the same time. “’It’s not a good gay Web series. It’s not good gay media. It’s simply good.’ That, for me, was the most rewarding thing of all, because I love these stories, I love structuring them, and I really love these characters.”

In comparison, however, Whatever this is. doesn’t exclusively revolve around gay characters; instead, the lineup is more mixed. Goldman describes the show as “taking place in the same world, but it’s a totally different story.” It focuses on the lives of two film production assistants, Ari (Dylan Marron) and Sam (Hunter Canning), as they work themselves to the bone to try to establish a career for themselves in their chosen industry. Many of The Outs’ cast return for Goldman’s latest baby,

which includes the highly talented Sasha Winters as well as Tommy Heleringer, who still seems unaware of his comedic abilities.

Canning, who also acquired a decent-sized fan base from Goldman’s first project, plays a straight role as boyfriend to Lisa, played by new addition to the team, Madeline Wise.

Goldman explains that part of the inspiration for Whatever this is. is the falsehood behind many so-called “reality” shows and the actual reality for those working behind such shows.

For example, Goldman recalls watching a scene from a reality show that clearly wasn’t realistic.

“There’s a moment where one of the characters is gonna write for a blog,” he explains, “and the person who works at the blog says that they’ll pay $200 a post for the blog. And we said, ‘Well, that’s a lie.’ Who does that comfort to think that you can get $200 to write a blog, when in reality, blogging is more or less free?” It’s that exact attitude that Goldman has toward reality, in the sense that he isn’t afraid of dealing with it, that makes his fiction all the more powerful.

“I can’t wait to share it with everyone,” Adam says about his latest show, his voice booming with excitement. While he and his team haven’t finished filming just yet, with his Kickstarter campaign to fund the new show well underway with thanks to the shows’ thousands of fans, it seems that nothing is able to stop Goldman. Whatever this is, you can be sure that we’re seeing the start of a new generation of talent coming together in New York.

Find out more about Adam Goldman’s latest Web series at whateverthisis.com.

EILE Magazine 9

News | World

LGBT World News RoundMexico Sees First Gay Mayor

support gay marriage, which is already legal in Mexico City, the capital.

However, according to ABC News, for Fresnillo, Medrano feels that the time is not yet right, and the people still have strong roots in religion and customs. He focused in his campaign on public safety, and police corruption, although there was a smear campaign during the election about his homosexuality.

Benjamin Medrano Quezada has just been elected as the first openly gay mayor of the very Catholic Fresnillo, Zacatecas. It is saiid to be one of the most violent cities in northern Mexico, known for drug wars and violence. He was elected on 7th July, and is a singer and gay bar owner.

However, the 47 year old will not be advocating for gay marriage or adoption, preferring to focus on other important issues like the drinking water shortage and vetting the city’s police force.

Fresnillo,a largely rural area, is said by Medrano to be “very machista” and “full of tough country people, who don’t necessarily have much information on what’s happening elsewhere, and have even less of an automatic sympathy with their gay mayor” Unusually, although he is open about his sexuality, he does not 10 EILE Magazine

Medrano also feels strongly that politicians who are gay should be openly gay.

MKB/Eile

Italy to Criminalise Homophobia?

Italy’s Lower House debated a bill which would make homophobia a criminal offence if approved.

The bill has the support of Premier Enrico Letta’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD), the PoL (ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party) and the left Ecology Freedom Party, SEL. It is due to be debated on the floor of the Senate on Friday.

The bill was proposed by Ivan Scalfarotto, an openly gay member of parliament from Partito Democratico, and will extend the Italian anti-

discrimination law to violence and crimes motivated by homophobia.

However, some Catholics are said to be unhappy with the bill, mainly members of the Pol, as they feel that their freedom of speech might be negatively affected.

This could mean that party members may try to delay the bill by presenting a number of amendments, which would also have to be debated. According to Gay Sports News, PD party secretary Dario Franceschini said the bill is ‘urgent and cannot be delayed any longer’.

However, some LGBT groups are not satisfied that the bill goes far enough. Gay Star News reports that the bill has already been criticised by a pro-gay lawyers’ group, who have said that the billl does not protect transgender people from discrimination. Gay-friendly and pro-gay lawyers’ group Rete Lenford wanted the first draft to be changed, as they felt it did not include the definition of gender identity.

According to the association, trans people will not be protected by the law,. They say: ‘This lack [of the definition of ‘gender identity’] could discriminate transgender people, because we are not male and female only.’

The 1993 Mancino anti discrimination law is named after Nicola Mancino, who was former Home Secretary.

It protects Italians from “nazi-

News | World

-Up fascist groups, racial abuse and religious discrimination”, but does not, as yet, protect them against homophobia.

MKB/Eile

Tutu: Hell Over a Homophobic Heaven

LGBT community, in various forms, and will be distributed through social media, a website, fact sheets, and videos made by world-famous celebrities. All campaign materials will be made available on the campaign’s website, UNFE.org.

Speaking at the United Nation’s LGBT rights launch last Friday, the retired archbishop made his views about homophobia in religion very clear, stating that the God he worships is not a homophobic God. “I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place.”

The retired South African archbishop, Desmond Tutu, has criticised religious institutions and organisations with anti-gay stances earlier this week, stating that he would rather go to Hell than worship a homophobic God.

Tutu continued to say that he felt as passionate about the subject of homophobia as he was about apartheid, openly comparing anti-gay discrimination to racial discrimination. “For me,” he said, “[homophobia] is at the same level.”

The Archbishop Emeritus, also a Nobel Peace Laureate, spoke at a press conference held to launch Free and Equal, a United Nations global public education campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in Cape Town, on July 26th.

The OHCHR stated that the campaign is to make available information, of interest to the

Robbie Obara, Mr Gay Europe 2013

Ireland Wins Mr Gay Europe Robbie Obara, this year’s Mr Gay Ireland, was crowned Mr Gay Europe in Prague last month. In a surprise move, however, the 26-year-old – originally from Vancouver Island and in Ireland since 2009 – announced shortly after the final that he was thrilled with the Mr Gay Europe title, but would not compete at Mr Gay World.

Speaking to EILE Magazine’s Scott De Buitléir, before flying to Antwerp to play volleyball at the World Out Games, Obara said that while he was thrilled with the result of the Mr Gay Europe final in the Czech capital, he wanted to focus on his studies, which involve a five-week stint at a Canadian hospital, as part of his medicine degree at Trinity College Dublin.

Obara, who initially represented The George Bar to win Mr Gay Ireland, wants to use his new title as this year’s Mr Gay Europe to work for the LGBT community both in Ireland and abroad. He said that he will focus on three aspects of health; biological (i.e. physical & sexual), mental, and social, to create a more positive LGBT community.

Obara will also use his newfound influence to work for the LGBT community in Halifax, Nova Scotia, while he is on placement there for the next five weeks.

EILE Magazine 11

Opinion | LGBT Pride

Proud To Be Me Andrew Smith writes about becoming comfortable with himself, and the Pride behind the Parade.

I’m still new to all this. I’m 20, and in my head I see myself as a mature and well-rounded person.

However, I don’t think I’ve ever strongly linked my sexuality to my persona. This is mainly due to my struggles in coming to terms with being gay. It’s only quite recently that I not only accepted who I am, but became comfortable with me.

In recent months, the idea of equality for the LGBT community has appeared more in mass media, and it engaged me. It made me look at my sexuality more as a characteristic and extension of me, and less as a definition. Even through all this exposure, pride in sexuality was still a concept that escaped me.

I had always envisaged a pride parade to be a huge celebration, but one with negative connotations. Skimpy costumes, loud drag queens, and excessive drinking were the images that filled my head, and it made me weary. I’m not loud, I’m not a party animal, and no one wants to see me in a skimpy costume, so I figured it would be best to steer clear.

My sister is my best friend, and has been the most supportive person in my life. She claims to be somewhat of an ultimate ‘fag hag’.

I haven’t seen any medals, but I know she’s a good friend not only to me, but to other gay men as well. She has attended pride from a young age, and convinced me to

12 EILE Magazine

go this year. I was still hesitant, but when I arrived in town on the Saturday morning, I felt this atmosphere of anticipation and excitement; it was hard not to be consumed by it.

Standing around the Garden of Remembrance, surrounded by people from all walks of life and backgrounds, was not the carnival I expected. These varying arrays of individuals were being joined by one thing they wanted to share.

Different groups, out in support of a variety of aspects associated with the gay community in Ireland, served as a reminder of a continued struggle for acceptance and equality in modern society. I was part of this community, and surrounded by these people. I was somewhere I could be comfortable, and feel accepted for the person I am – a rarity.

As we walked through town, as part of the parade in a sea of vibrant colours and music, I was blowing a whistle at eardrum damaging levels, waving my rainbow flag with such force it kept tangling, and smiling. I had this swelling pride in my chest, much like when hearing your national anthem. It’s an emotion that grabs your throat, tightens your fist, and beats your heart harder and faster. A community that accepts you for who you are is one I am proud to be a member of.

Pride to me was a gathering of

people from all walks of life, beyond what is represented by the rainbow flag. It’s friends, family, couples, love, and pride. I had been judgmental and sceptical about this parade – the same treatment many people in our community face on a daily basis. Maybe it’s a scepticism and fear of the unknown that plagues the struggles in our community.

Maybe, by having more pride in who we are, not only as a group, but as individuals, we can represent our concerns on a basis that doesn’t always need a parade.

Now I won’t be a sceptic. Maybe now I’ll be that well rounded person who doesn’t see their sexuality as an extension of themselves, but as a part of who they are - proud of themselves as a whole, and not of the pieces that make them up.

Pride is more than just a parade for me; it’s a state of being.

EILE Magazine | Russian Update

The IOC releases statement on Russian Gay Ban A statement, coming from the International Olympic Commitee, and released to the Windy City Times on Wednesday, calls for the acceptance of gay athletes at the Russian Sochi Olympic Games in 2014.

(Ironically, the Russian Brand Sochi 2014 video says it promotes diversity among all its people, despite the recent anti gay propaganda bill).

The statement from the IOC reads: “The International Olympic Committee is clear that sport is a human right and should be available to all regardless of race, sex or sexual orientation,”

Games in Sochi. As a sporting organization, what we can do is to continue to work to ensure that the Games can take place without discrimination against athletes, officials, spectators and the media. Wider political issues in the country are best dealt with by other international organizations more suited to this endeavor.”

However, the commitee does not specify what international organisations might be more suited to deal with the wider political issues, and could possibly do more by protesting directly to the Russian government about its recent anti-gay laws.

The statement continues:

While many gay athletes may be nervous about what this law will mean for them, some participants will not be threatened by the rule.

Blake Skjellerup, an out speed skater from New Zealand who also competed in the Vancouver games, has said while taking part he will be wearing a rainbow pin.

“If that gets me in trouble,” he told vocativ.com, “then, I guess, so be it.”

“As you know, this legislation has just been passed into law and it remains to [be] seen whether and how it will be implemented, particularly as regards the

The IOC has not been very vocal or forceful about the Russian gay ban, and even this statement is a bit milk and water, as it waits to see how the legislation will be

“The Games themselves should be open to all, free of discrimination, and that applies to spectators, officials, media and of course athletes. We would oppose in the strongest terms any move that would jeopardise this principle”.

implemented.

Many LGBT organisations have asked that IOC put more pressure on Russia, to clarify that athletes and fans will be safe, as foreigners may be fined or imprisoned for outwardly gay speech or actions, like holding hands. Boris O. Dittrich, advocacy director of the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, asked IOC to “to press the authorities to state publicly that, as Olympic Host, Russia will ensure, without distinction, the safety and the freedom of expression and association of all athletes, coaches, fans, and others who will attend the Sochi Games.”

Unless there is further clarification from the Russian government, how the ban will affect athletes and spectators alike remains to be seen.

– MKB For further updates on this story, visit the eile.ie website

EILE Magazine 13

Interview | African Pride

African Pride lgbt life in south africa “A lot of the arguments that are used in South Africa… is that being gay is somehow ‘unAfrican’. It’s somehow white, Western or colonial. What this documentary is about is the people who are standing up and saying; ‘actually, no – I was born in this township, I grew up here, this is where I work, this is where I love and I’ve chosen to be here and don’t tell me this space isn’t my own.’”

When speaking about her latest work, the enthusiasm of journalist and documentary maker, Laura Fletcher, comes across so easily that it’s contagious.

That enthusiasm, however, is intertwined with a heavy realization that she has dealt with many dark moments in people’s lives – a task she has not approached lightly.

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Fletcher recorded over 120 hours of film for her documentary, African Pride, which takes a look at life for LGBT people in South Africa. As Laura explains, it was a difficult challenge, as South Africa’s stance on gay rights is an unusual one. While some countries’ inhabitants are more liberal than their laws would suggest, South Africa’s situation is the reverse. The Constitution of South Africa protects same-sex relationships, and the country introduced marriage equality in 2006, but a 2013 survey revealed that 61% of South Africans felt that their society should not accept homosexuality. In comparison, a similar study from 2008 found that only 8% of South Africans felt that homosexuality was not ‘wrong’ at all.

For a journalist to cover such a story in one’s own country is one thing, but what happens when a foreigner tries to do it? Fletcher has lived and worked in South Africa, which meant that she wasn’t completely oblivious to the social context of what she was dealing with, but Fletcher is not from South Africa. Did this make things more difficult when gaining the respect and trust of those she wanted to feature in African Pride?

“I think it was quite difficult,” she notes, “not least because they were super dubious of me! I mean, I was white, I was foreign, I was Irish – they didn’t even know where Ireland was! They had no reason to trust me at all!”

Despite her joking and laughing about being an Irishwoman so

Interview | African Pride far from home, it was at this point that Fletcher reveals a painful truth about the media’s responsibility towards those they interview or feature. She explains that while townships in South Africa aren’t completely unused to media attention, many members of the media are insensitive when covering issues such as women’s or LGBT rights – two subjects which are often met with the same cold reception.

“A lot of [the people Fletcher interviewed] have been really chewed up and spat out by the media in the past,” Fletcher explains. “I was talking to activist groups who have, in the past, had journalists come in and say, ‘hands up in here who’s been raped?’ So […] I was very cognizant of the fact that this story had been told in the past, but it had been told in very sensationalist ways.”

“People were almost being revictimized in a way, whilst [the media were] raising awareness.

What I really wanted to do talk to people who wanted to talk to me. I did talk to people who had survived very difficult experiences and had lost loved ones, but I went and talked to them on their own terms. It was all very much about them telling their stories.”

Fletcher makes sure that her documentary is all about those she has interviewed, and not about her – she’s doesn’t spend a single moment in front of the camera. While it is all about those interviewed, Laura makes it very clear in our conversation that the documentary, while it cannot ignore the negative background of the story, has some beautiful and heartwarming moments in it as well.

“It’s knitted together with the stories of these amazing people,” she explains, her face lighting up as she almost re-lives the moments in her head. “They really are amazing. They’re funny, vivacious and strong, and they slag each other off! And there’s such lovely, lovely humanity in it.”

As Fletcher herself describes, however, African Pride may be an African story, but the story of how LGBT people have been treated there is not exclusively African. “The more I come back to Ireland and the more I look at international news,” she says, “I really see the parallels everywhere.”

“I was very cognizant of the fact that this story had been told in the past, but it had been told in very sensationalist

both politicians and the LGBT community worldwide on something of a red alert. While Russia and South Africa are thousands of miles apart, the type of language used against their respective LGBT communities is almost exactly the same; that somehow, being LGBT is the result of some corrupt, alien, Western trait.

“If you look at the ban in Russia,” Fletcher explains, “it’s the banning of ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships’.

In South Africa last year, you had a group of traditional leaders trying to remove the protection for same-sex relationships from [South Africa’s] Constitution. This idea of owning what’s traditional, owning what’s perceived as normal, and gay as being other, foreign and introduced by somebody else and somehow taught or learned behavior, those parallels are absolutely the same.”

Laura’s documentary is not intended for television, but instead the journalist has produced African Pride to be screened at film festivals both in Ireland and, hopefully, abroad.

Her crowdfunding campaign to raise €5,000 ($6640) was recently achieved, much to Fletcher’s delight, and work is underway now to complete the documentary. The stories of those featured in African Pride is almost ready to be told, and Laura is now more excited than ever.

Find out more about African Pride by visiting its Facebook page; facebook.com/africanpridedoc

ways.”

The parallels Fletcher describes include Russia, which has had EILE Magazine 15

Column | Prop 8

California Dispatch:

State of a Union

EILE Magazine’s new American column, California Dispatch, launches with Jon Beaupré writing about the potential impact of Proposition 8 With all the attention the US have the bigger impact on history Supreme Court received in June than the removal of DOMA. over it’s two ‘Gay Rights’ rulings (see Eile, Issue 2), by far the Remember, that the DOMA greater attention was paid to the decision didn’t approve sameDefense of Marriage Act (DOMA) sex marriage, it simply said the than to the day’s other ruling. feds can’t withhold benefits from The US highest court’s DOMA legally married LGBT couples; a decision on June 26 was majespowerful decision to be sure, but tic and historic, as it applied to not a decisive national mandate all legally married to allow gay same-sex couples in …the Supremes in marriages, the country, and all effect threw the doors as was most such couples workopen to gay marriage recently and ing for the federal contentiously government. When in the nation’s largest demonstrated state. When you think in France. you translate all the legal language about that reality, into simple English, the implications are By sending what the court said Prop 8 back staggering. was ‘We strike down to the US this law because it is District Court unfair…’ For many for Northern LGBT people in the US, it was California, which had overturned the single largest victory for their the earlier state Supreme Court cause in the history of the fight for decision upholding the measure, gay civil rights, period. the Supremes in effect threw the doors open to gay marriage in That ‘little’ California decision the nation’s largest state. When only affected the people of goldyou think about that reality, the en-state after all, not the whole implications are staggering. country, and it did so under a not-very-profound legal principle. Let’s look at some numbers: now It wasn’t exactly as soaring as the not only does the nation’s largrhetoric of the DOMA decision, est state, with about 38 million which used lofty ideas like ‘due citizens (more than a 10th of the process’ and ‘equal protection.’ nation’s population), allow gay Nope. The court just said to those marriage, the law affects more hoping to uphold Proposition people than live in Belgium, Por8 ‘you haven’t been hurt by the tugal, Denmark, Norway, Iceland legal decisions up to this point; and Ireland combined. If Caliyou have no standing to bring this fornia were a nation by itself, it suit to us here in DC. Go back to would be the fifth largest to allow California and sort things out.’ gay marriages, falling between Argentina and Canada.

So it may be surprising that in the long run, the Prop 8 decision may Striking down Prop 8 made same16 EILE Magazine

sex marriage legal for a total of almost a third of the population of the country, equal to the next five largest US states that similarly recognize gay unions combined.

In fact, not counting New York state, the total population now allowed to marry their same-sex partner in California is greater than all the other states in the US with legalized same-sex marriage combined. And all those newlymarried gay couples are not likely to stay put either. What happens when the lesbian federal tax worker in Fresno and her newly legal wife are transferred to Salt Lake City? On one hand, Utah would not recognize their marriage. On the other, their federal benefits are guaranteed.

With all those ‘legal’ gay families moving around the country, even communities where gay marriage is not legal will be forced to deal with the reality of gay moms and dads at parent-teacher meetings, running for public office, or heading commercial enterprises.

So when you multiply the effects of legalized gay marriage in the nation’s largest state, by the reality that legally married same-sex couples across the country will be moving to states that don’t recognize their union, the simple little Prop 8 decision may, in the long run, have an even bigger effect on the acceptance of LGBT rights than striking down DOMA. Jon Beaupré is a Professor of TV, Film & Media at California State University, Los Angeles

News | Haiti A Brief History of Prop 8 2008 Nov. - Passed by CA voters 52% to 48% 2009 May - Appeal to US Dist. Court for Northern CA (even before the measure was upheld by the state supreme coure), and assigned to judge Vaughn Walker, who is himself Gay 2009 May - CA Supreme Court upholds Prop 8 2010 Aug. - Judge Walker declares Prop 8 Unconstitutional on the basis of depriving citizens of Due Process and Equal Protection. This was followed by the same decision upholding unconstitutionality, when the question was resubmitted to a threejudge panel, instead of the single judge (Walker) 2010 Aug. - Once the measure was declared unconstitutional, Prop 8 proponents requested and received a stay from the 9th Circuit Court on the ruling; in other words, Judge Walker granted that the situation remain ‘status-quo’, that Gays could not marry while the appeal continued 2010 Nov. - Jerry Brown elected Governor and Kamela Harris elected Attorney General 2012 June - Prop 8 advocates appeal to US Supreme Court. California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General – now governor – Jerry Brown had announced they would not defend Prop 8 cases, even though it had been passed by voters; thus US Supreme Court defense taken up by the measure’s original advocates.

2012 Dec. - US Supreme Court agrees to hear the appeal 2013 March - Oral arguments heard

by US Supreme Court 2013 June - US Supreme Court throws the case back to US Dist.

Court for Northern CA, effectively legalizing Gay marriage.

2013 June - CA lifts Judge Walker’s stay – over the protest of Prop 8 supporters – and the state begins overseeing marriages between samesex couples.

Two Men Killed in Haiti Anti Gay Protest

According to The Sentinel, two men, believed to be gay, were beaten to death during an anti gay marriage protest rally in Port-Au-Prince, by a Protestant led coalition of moral and religious organizations on Friday.

The protest was organized by a number of religious groups, including the Haitian Coalition of Religious and Moral Organizations, and “came two days after watchdog groups held a news conference to condemn what they say is an increase in threats against homosexuals in the country. They also took issue with plans for the Friday protest” . The coalition of religious groups said three weeks ago that it opposed recent laws in other countries supporting gay marriage.(LGBTQNation).

The Sentinel article reads: On Jean Jacques Dessalines Boulevard, at the Iron Market, at about 1:00 PM in the afternoon, 2 people were beaten to death.

At 4:00 PM when the information was received on the news desk of The Sentinel, it was said that their bodies were still lying on the ground.

The police appeared to have arrived on the scene late, or did not stop the violence if at the actual scene earlier, as the bodies were on the street for a period of approximately 3 hours.

LGBTQNation reports on the incident that Various faith groups brought protestors together from Protestanst[Protestants] to Muslims, threatening to burn down parliament if lawmakers legalized a planned proposal by a Haitian gay rights group to allow same-sex marriage.

Haiti’s gay and lesbian community is small and has long kept a low-profile because of a strong social stigma that sparks fears of physical violence and loss of employment. Gay rights groups in Haiti say that members of the country’s LGBT community often don’t report rights violations to authorities out of fear of reprisal.

Many protesters shouted threats of physical harm to the gay community, while holding up copies of the bible, or quoting from it.

MKB/Eile

EILE Magazine 17

Psychology | Explaining Homophobia

Explaining Homophobia? fail to account for the nuanced pattern of findings observed.

The study was carried out on heterosexual college undergraduates: Undergraduates participated in partial fulfillment of their research requirement. We omitted bisexual and gay/lesbian participants… and had participants report on the extent to which they felt negativity toward each group (1 = not at all, 9 = extremely), averaged on 2 items negative and dislike, for the six target groups…

Yet another attempt has been made to explain homophobia, this time in a study which holds that heterosexuals are afraid of unwanted advances from same-sex individuals, and it is this fear which, according to Angela G. Pirlott, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wisconsin Eau-Claire University, and Stephen L. Neuberg, Foundation Professor of Psychology at Arizona University, causes homophobic behaviour. The study was reported in the journal Social Psychological & Personality Science.

According to their abstract: Sexual prejudice may arise from beliefs that certain sexual orientation groups direct unwanted sexual interest, with the implication that heterosexual men and women hold prejudices against different groups. Study 1 confirmed that heterosexual women believe bisexual men, bisexual women, and lesbians (but not gay men) direct unwanted sexual interest, whereas heterosexual men believe bisexual and gay men (but not bisexual women or lesbians) direct unwanted sexual interest. Study 2 revealed patterns of negativity toward different sexual orientation groups mirroring Study 1’s pattern of perceptions of unwanted sexual interest and Study 3 demonstrated that the perception of unwanted sexual interest statistically mediates the relationship between target sexual orientation group and negativity. Existing theoretical approaches for understanding sexual prejudices, including the in-group–out-group heterosexism, gender–role violation, and sexual identity threat approaches, 18 EILE Magazine

Participants also reported on 9-point scales (1 = not at all, 9 = extremely) their own sexual and romantic interest in each target group: “If you weren’t currently in a relationship and you were approached by an attractive, intelligent, funny, desirable [target], how interested would you be in [having sex with that person/having a romantic relationship with that person]?”

The authors cite Will & Grace and Sex and the City for instances of where media depictions suggest nonheterosexuals can possess feelings for heterosexual individuals and may approach them with romantic or sexual aims—either having misidentified heterosexuals as gay/lesbian/bisexual or even knowing they are heterosexual (e.g., plotlines in Will and Grace and Sex and the City in which nonheterosexual characters have “crushes” on heterosexual characters)…

They also posit that heterosexuals may find unwanted advances a challenge to their sexual autonomy based on cited studies: Unwanted sexual advances by nonheterosexuals may be viewed by heterosexuals as challenging that autonomy by creating coercive or uncomfortable sexual situations, or by placing doubt about one’s sexual orientation in others’ minds…

The authors are careful to point out that looking for an explanation for homophobia, does not mean try-

Psychology | Explaining Homophobia

ing to excuse it, however, stating: Finally, to explain sexual prejudice is not to justify it. Our goal was to enhance our understanding of why certain heterosexuals are prejudiced against sexual orientation minorities in the nuanced ways they are. Only through such understanding can effective means of reducing prejudices be designed and implemented.

This study would possibly need to be replicated among older generation heterosexuals, to see whether any perceived threat was all-encompassing, and among other university students and youth in general, to see whether this is a perception held by all young people, or just in certain states, which may have a tradition of fearing diversity.

– MKB

Reykjavík To Sever Ties With Moscow Over Anti-Gay Law The Mayor of Reykjavík has announced that he wants to sever ties with its sister city of Moscow, because of President Vladimir Putin’s signing of anti-gay legislation into law.

The proposal to terminate all cultural and political relations with the Russian capital was presented by Mayor Jón Gnarr to Reykjavík City Council on Friday, according to Icelandic newssite, Vísir.

“In light of the developments that have taken place in recent years in matters of [LGBT] people in Russia, the Human Rights Office and the Mayor’s Office have entrusted the deputy mayor to propose amendments to the existing agreement between the two cities or terminate it all together following consultation with the Foreign

Ministry,” stated the City Council meeting on the matter. The Foreign Ministry would have to sign off on any decisions made by the City Council, however, before ties with Moscow would be officially severed.

Jón Gnarr has been very supportive of the LGBT community in Iceland over recent years, even dressing up in drag for Reykjavík Pride in 2010.

This is not the first time that the Reykjavík politician has acted on the LGBT community’s behalf, especially where Russia is concerned.

Last year, Gnarr formally wrote to Moscow in protest of the Russian capital’s banning of pride parades.

EILE Magazine 19

News | Civil Partnerships

GLEN: Civil Partnership Two Years On GLEN have just released figures that show that more than two thousand people have entered into Civil Partnerships in Ireland, as we await the referendum on Equal Marriage.

It’s just over two years since the first Civil Partnerships took place in Ireland in April 2011.

Since then, 1,088 lesbian and gay couples have entered into civil partnerships, in every county in Ireland, up to the end of June 2013. A further 250 couples have given notice that they will enter civil partnerships later this year.

These figures are compiled from data supplied by the General Registrars Office.

It is now time to put the issue before the people of Ireland in a referendum Above is a bar chart of the agegroups of the 2,176 LGBT people who have so far entered into this union.

Kieran Rose, GLEN Chair, stated: “Civil Partnerships are a resounding success. Lesbian and gay couples in every county in Ireland have celebrated their love and commitment to each other in front of family, friends and neighbours.

In doing so, these couples have contributed enormously to the remarkable progress towards marriage and full constitutional equal20 EILE Magazine

ity for lesbian and gay couples and families”.

Many hundreds more lesbian and gay couples have celebrated their commitment by entering civil partnerships or getting married abroad . These couples ’ foreign legal relationships are recognised in Ireland as civil partnerships .

The Civil Partnership Act passed through the Oireachtas in July 2010 and the first public civil partnership was celebrated in April 2011. Civil Partnership provides almost all the legal rights and obligations that apply to civil marriage.

“The huge welcome for civil partnerships throughout the country shows that Ireland is ready to take the next step to provide for civil marriage for lesbian and gay couples. It is now time to put the issue before the people of Ireland in a referendum,” said Rose.

The Constitutional Convention overwhelmingly voted for marriage in April and the Government have until November to decide to accept that proposal and give a

timetable for a referendum, which the Tánaiste recently stated could be in 2014.

The Longford Leader in an editorial stated: “for many people, the term ‘ civil partnership ’ has become interchangeable with the term marriage. As far as they are concerned, they are attending the ‘ wedding ’ of their gay or lesbian friends. The reality is that the tide of public opinion has just shifted towards an acceptance of gay marriage”.

Kieran Rose added: “We firmly believe that the people of Ireland will continue their warm welcome of lesbian and gay couples and families and that a yes vote will be carried in a referendum that would provide access to civil marriage”.

For more details, visit http:// www.glen.ie

Interview | John Kavanagh

LGBT Adoptive Parents Do Just As Well As Heterosexual Parents A study published in the Journal of Family Psychology, Vol.27 (3) has found that children adopted by LGBT parents, do just as well in terms of psychological adjustment, as those adopted by heterosexual couples.

The authors say an estimated 16,000 same-sex couples are raising more than 22,000 adopted children in the U.S. at present.

The study, published in June of this year, was carried out by Abbie E. Goldberg, Visiting Scholar at the Williams Institute, and JuliAnna Z. Smith, of the University of Massachusetts, and was titled Predictors of psychological adjustment in early placed adopted children with lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents.

In a press release, dated 9th July, Goldberg stated: “The emotional and behavioral outcomes of children adopted and raised by same-sex couples do not differ from those of children adopted and raised by different-sex couples… Our findings lend support for arguments that prospective adopters should not be discriminated against, in policy or practice, based on sexual orientation.”

In the abstract, the authors give an account of how many families, and what type, were involved in the study:

Family type is not a predictor of a child’s psychological adjustment among early placed adopted children with lesbian, gay or heterosexual parents. An estimated 16,000 same-sex couples are raising more than 22,000 adopted children in the U.S., and these findings indicate that these children will likely fare no differently, as a result of their family type, than those being raised by heterosexual parents. This study examines aspects of the preand post-adoptive contexts in relation to child adjustment in 120 two-parent adoptive families (i.e., 40 female same-sex, 35 male same-sex, and 45 different-sex couples who adopted their children).

All 120 couples were adopting their first child, and in all cases it was a single child under the age of 1.5 years.

The study is also one of the first to investigate the role of both pre- and post-adoptive contexts.

“By emphasizing the importance of parents’ adoption preparedness, positive well-being, and strong relationships, this study provides insights into the types of early environmental factors that do make a difference for adopted children,” said Goldberg.

MKB/Eile

The current study examined 40 female same-sex, 35 male same-sex, and 45 different-sex parent families with adopted children, all of whom were placed in their adoptive homes under the age of 18 months.

Their main findings were that children’s adjustment outcomes did not differ by family type. Across all family types, however, the authors found that a lack of preparedness for the adoption, and parent and partner conflict did affect the adopted child’s adjustment.

On the Williams Institute website Goldberg says: EILE Magazine 21

Interview | John Kavanagh

Australian PM supports gay marriage while sister supports Putin with community views.

Australian Marriage Equality national director, Rodney Croome, said, “These polls results show that Kevin Rudd’s support for marriage equality is a net vote winner for Labor while Tony Abbott’s continued opposition, even to a conscience vote, is a vote loser for the Coalition.”

“In what looks set to be a tight election, marriage equality will be one of the major issues which decides the next Government.”

Same-sex marriage could be an election-deciding issue, a new marriage equality poll has found. The poll was released yesterday in Australia, and was the first since Kevin Rudd became Prime Minister, according to a press release by Australian Marriage Equality.

The poll of 1000 voters by Galaxy Research has found Kevin Rudd’s support for marriage equality is drawing voters to the Labor Party, including large numbers of young people, while most voters feel Tony Abbott’s opposition to reform is out-of-step

“The fact Australian’s want this issue resolved by parliament, not be a referendum, sends a clear message to Kevin Rudd to drop the idea and increases pressure on Tony Abbott to remove the main parliamentary barrier to reform by allowing a conscience vote.”

The poll found that overall, 30% of voters are more likely to support Labor because of Mr Rudd’s stance, while only 19% are less likely, and among 18 to 24 year olds, 54% were more likely to vote Labor because of Mr Rudd’s support for marriage equality.

The poll also showed that 58% of voters, including 37% of Coalition voters, believe Coalition leader Tony Abbott is out-of-step with community attitudes because he continues to oppose both marriage

Quality LGBT News and Features – Produced from Los Angeles and Available via iTunes and on 200+ Radio Stations Worldwide!

22 EILE Magazine

equality and a conscience vote on the issue.

Mr. Rudd’s sister, Loree, however, is still among those who oppose gay marriage, and has stated that she feels Russian style laws should be brought in in Australia to oppose children being taught that homosexuality is normal.

According to an article on the Australian Marriage Equality site, Ms Rudd wants Australia to introduce a Vladimir Putinstyle ban on schoolchildren being taught about homosexuality.

She also says she is unlikely to help her brother on election day because of his support for gay marriage, and believes the Russian leader’s hardline view on homosexuality is more enlightened than Western leaders.

Ms Rudd rejoined the Labor Party last year after angrily and publicly tearing-up her membership when the party voted to support a conscience vote on same-sex marriage at its national conference in 2011, Australian Marriage Equality reports. The site also reports that Mr Rudd’s decision to support gay marriage was triggered by the confession of a former political staffer that he was gay and would like to get married one day.

MKB/Eile

News | Arizona

‘Q’ Confirms He’s Gay (and married) The actor who was ‘Q’ in the Bond movie Skyfall, has revealed that not only is he gay,but that he also married his partner last year.

Whisaw, born (1980) and raised in Bedfordshire, in England, has many films and stage plays to his credit, along with the Bond movie, playing Hamlet in the Old Vic, and Keith RIchards in the Brian Jones biopic Stoned.

According to IMDb: Proclaimed by many critics as one of the best young actors of his generation, Ben Whishaw was born in Clifton, Bedfordshire, where he grew up along with his twin brother James. Ben attended Samuel Whitbread Community College where his interest in theatre grew and he became a member of the Bancroft Players Youth Theatre at Hitchin’s Queen Mother Theatre.

Ben Whishaw and his partner Mark Bradshaw entered a Civil Partnership in Sydney in August of 2012, as was confirmed by his agent this weekend. The agent said it was due to speculation about Whisaw’s marriage that he was confirming it.

He said Whishaw was ‘very happy’ and added: Ben has never hidden his sexuality, but like many actors he prefers not to discuss his family or life outside his work.

Ben also starred in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, in 2006, where he was chosen for the role over Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom.

You look big enough to fill us up...

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EILE Magazine 23

News | Russia Protests

Ireland Protests Against Russian Anti-Gay Laws A formal letter, protesting Russia’s recent enactment of antigay legislation, has been signed by several Irish politicians and LGBT organisations and handed into the Russian Embassy in Dublin.

The letter was handed into the embassy in south Dublin by Max Krzyzanowski of action group LGBT Noise, and Adam Long of the National Gay and Lesbian Federation. The Bill, which was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin last month, effectively makes any LGBT campaigns, rallies, publishing, services and much more illegal.

The Irish letter, which condemns Moscow’s actions “in the strongest possible terms” is signed by many politicians, including Senators David Norris, Ivana Bacik, Averil Power and also by Paul Murphy MEP.

Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) citizens in Russia and on freedom of expression more generally.

The justification offered for the adoption of this draconian legislation – the protection of minors from learning about homosexuality – is extremely misguided and seems to be based on the utterly discredited notion that homosexuality is something that can be ‘taught’ or ‘recruited’ into, when in fact sexual orientation is an innate and immutable personal characteristic. The law is also a major breach of the rights of Russian LGBT youth, who will be prevented from accessing crucially important information relating to their sexuality.

Ireland is not too far behind Iceland, which also saw its own reaction against Moscow’s laws against so-called ‘homosexual propaganda’. Earlier this month, Jón Gnarr, the Mayor of Reykjavík, formally called for the Icelandic capital to sever all ties with Moscow in protest at the new homophobic law.

Furthermore, the legislation is so loosely defined as to effectively prohibit any public campaigning for LGBT rights or the depiction of LGBT lives in a positive or even neutral light. It is an unacceptable attack on freedom of expression and has been widely condemned by, among others, The Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the UN Human Rights Committee, numerous NGO’s and foreign governments.

The letter reads as follows: We the undersigned condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent passage of a law banning the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships”, which amounts to a serious assault on the basic rights and freedoms of LGBT (Lesbian,

The European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee have made clear in previous rulings that the right to freedom of expression encompasses the right to freely express one’s sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as the freedom to seek, receive and

24 EILE Magazine

impart information on issues related to sexual orientation or gender identity. These judgments have very recently been affirmed in the 18 June 2013 opinion of the Venice Commission, which considered that bans on so-called “homosexual propaganda” are “incompatible with the ECHR and international human rights standards.”

The anti-gay legislation is in direct conflict with Russia’s clear human rights obligations and has only succeeded in fueling homophobic prejudice and violence in the country.

Therefore we strongly urge the Russian authorities to end the arrests and persecution of LGBT people and to instead focus on upholding their rights and that of their supporters to freedom of expression, assembly and protection from homophobic violence.

[Signed by:] NLGF (National Lesbian and Gay Federation); LGBT Noise; TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland); MarriagEquality, BeLonG To, LGBT Lawyers Association, Sinn Féin, Anne Ferris TD, Paul Murphy MEP, Senator Ivana Bacik, Senator David Norris, Senator Averil Power, Ailbhe Smyth, Dundalk Outcomers

News | BeLonG To

BeLonG To Launches Superhero Network Business to help tackle homophobic bullying Many Irish business figures came together at Dublin’s Lir Theatre recently to support the launch of the Super Hero Network, which aims to tackle homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools by raising €200,000 to support BeLonG To, Ireland’s national organisation for LGBT youth.

Led by business woman, entrepreneur and philanthropist Danielle Ryan, key Irish business figures attended the launch event at the Lir yesterday evening, July 18. Building on the success of the Stand Up! anti-bullying Campaign (which has been praised by the United Nations among others) BeLonG To’s Super Hero Network will see business leaders and social entrepreneurs from Ireland, the United Kingdom and United States using their influence to help to deliver yet another ground-breaking campaign.

Speaking at the event, Danielle Ryan said: “I am delighted to join forces with BeLonG To to launch this campaign.

The work that BeLonG To do is vital.

Ireland should take responsibility for the happiness of its young people, but unfortunately too many LGBT young people experience harrassment and bullying just because of who they are.”

While great improvements have been made for LGBT people in Ireland over recent years, there are many issues where LGBT youth are still amongst the most vulnerable groups in Irish society. Almost 60% of young LGBT people have reported homophobic bullying in their school, with 34% reporting that homophobic comments come from their own teachers. A fifth have missed school at times because they have been afraid to attend, according to a 2009 report. Half of all LGBT young people in Ireland have Half of all LGBT seriously thought about ending their young people lives, according to BeLonG To’s Director in Ireland Founder Michael have seriously and Barron, which is “a thought about fact that cannot be ignored”.

This work includes bringing the Stand Up! campaign to all primary and secondary schools in Ireland next year, providing support to over 3,500 LGBT young people across ending their the country. This year’s campaign “We would like to lives was praised by the say a huge thank you Department of Education as a critical to Danielle Ryan and her family for part of the National Anti-Bullying the support and commitment they Action Plan, and in 2012, BeLonG To’s have shown LGBT young people,” Stand Up! Video reached 1 million said Barron. “Her generosity in viewers on YouTube, making it the launching our Super Hero Network most viewed Irish online PSA ever. is particularly appreciated, as it marks a new phase in our work to

end homophobic and transphobic bullying in our schools where business leaders will help us take our campaign to both primary and secondary schools for the first time. The Network is a gathering of committed extraordinary individuals who are dedicated to protecting the right of every LGBT young person in Ireland to grow up safe and respected.”

Speaking about the impact of BeLonG To’s Stand Up Campaign, Alison (16) said: “I felt so alone. So isolated. And then one day I was walking down my school corridor and I saw a poster.

It was about standing up for lesbian young people. That was me. The poster was about me. And in that moment I knew things would be ok. I joined BeLonG To and now I have so many friends and my life is so much better” For more information on BeLonG To, visit belongto.org

EILE Magazine 26

Homophobic and Transphobic Bullying:

- A Serious Child Protection Issue The Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Dr Geoffrey Shannon has published his sixth report to the Irish Government, which highlights homophobic and transphobic bullying and the devastating impact it can have on young people’s lives. In the report, Shannon describes it as a serious child protection issue.

BeLonG To has welcomed Shannon’s report, calling for a comprehensive LGBT Youth Action Plan to address the needs of LGBT young people in Ireland, including bullying and support.

This would create a joined-up strategy that would bring together the work of various government departments, education partners, youth services, child and family services and health services.

Speaking with EILE Magazine, BeLonG To’s Executive Director Michael Barron welcomed Shannon’s report. Barron noted that the report shows the Government that the issue should be a “concern … of national significance” for the State as well as for groups at ground level, 26 EILE Magazine

such as BeLonG To and individual schools.

“It is hugely significant that [Dr. Shannon’s] Report to Government spotlights the seriousness of homophobic and transphobic bullying,” Barron continued to say. “This sends a very strong message to government departments, schools, communities and families that urgent action needs to be taken to end this harassment, and to protect LGBT young people and young people who may be perceived as LGBT. As a result of the ongoing failure to address this issue, many young people face daily harassment and violence.”

Barron also made reference to the topic of child protection in Ireland over recent years, in light of the child abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and certain schools, including the recent referendum in the Republic regarding children’s rights.

Minister Frances Fitzgerald agreeing with Dr. Shannon’s views yesterday morning on RTÉ

Radio’s Morning Ireland shows that the Department of Children & Youth Affairs is supportive of protecting LGBT youth, Barron commented.

“It is important to note that homophobic and transphobic bullying also takes place outside of school – in communities, families and online,” Barron continued. “With this in mind it is now more important than ever that LGBT youth work services, which provide low-cost life saving interventions to young people, are supported and resourced. Any LGBT young person experiencing homophobic and transphobic bullying should be able to access professional support in their area. […] The legislation establishing the new Child and Family Agency should have equality/ non-discrimination as one of its guiding principles”.

News | Cameroon Activist Killed

LGBT Activist Eric Lembembe Tortured and Killed A Cameroonian journalist and LGBT activist has been found dead in his home last Monday evening, having been tortured with burns to his face, hands and feet. His neck and feet had also been broken.

Eric Ohena Lembembe was involved with many LGBT campaigns and media, both in his native Cameroon and abroad, as well as being executive director of the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS (CAMFAIDS). He had written extensively for both blogs and books on LGBT rights in his country, and his work had been noted by the UN Human Rights Council.

“Eric was an inspiring activist whose work was deeply appreciated by human rights activists in Cameroon and around the world,” said Neela Ghoshal, a senior researcher at the Human Rights Watch. “Advocating for equal

rights in Cameroon, where LGBTI people face severe discrimination and violence, takes tremendous courage. Eric’s activism paved the way for a society based on equality and nondiscrimination.”

Lembembe was found dead in his Yaoundé home last Monday evening (July 15) with multiple burns to his body caused by an iron, with his neck and feet broken.

While it is not clear when exactly he was murdered, Human Rights Watch reports that friends had tried to contact him by telephone for two days before they visited his home. They found his front door locked, however they could see his body lying on his bed through the window.

sents LGBT clients, have repeatedly received death threats, yet the Cameroonian authorities have not made any arrests.

“We don’t know who killed Eric Lembembe,” said Ghoshal, “or why he was killed, but one thing is clear: the Cameroonian authorities’ utter failure to stem homophobic violence sends the message that these attacks can be carried out with impunity,” Ghoshal also urged the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, to “break his silence on the wave of homophobic violence […] and publicly condemn this brutal attack.”

Lembembe’s killing is not unrelated to numerous other attacks on LGBT people in Cameroon.

On June 26 this year, the Douala headquarters of AlternativesCameroun, was the target of an arson attack. Ten days previously, the office of human rights lawyer Michel Togué was burgled, and both his legal files and his laptop were stolen. Both Togué and Alice Nkom, another lawyer who repre-

Get the word out to those that matter.

EILE Magazine 27

Opinion | Emigration

New Study: Children of same-sex couples “score high on health and wellbeing” A new study, carried out in Australia, and led by the University of Melbourne, has found that children of same-sex couples in general, are happier than children of families from the general population.

According to the University of Melbourne Newsroom Australian children of same-sex couples fared better on average than families from the general population on measures of general health and family cohesion, but continue to be subject to discrimination, interim findings of a University of Melbourne led study has found.

Dr Simon Crouch, from the McCaughey Vichealth Centre for Community Wellbeing at the University of Melbourne, is the lead researcher, and said the early findings suggested Australian children with same-sex attracted parents were developing well.

“These children are growing up in a range of contexts and score well on measures of health and wellbeing in the face of discrimination,” he said.

According to the Interim Report: Further analysis of the ACHESS data will identify in what ways this discrimination affects children and their families, as well as characterising overall health and wellbeing in more detail. It is anticipated that full results will be available by September 2013.

The study, entitled The Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families (ACHESS), involved 500 children aged two months to 17 years from 315 parents. The parents described a range of sexual orientations including homosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer, and were from all states around Australian except the Northern Territory. ACHESS is the largest study yet to investigate the complete physical, mental and social wellbeing of children with same-sex attracted parents.

Of particular importance to the researchers, and no doubt will be to LGBT groups, is the role that 28 EILE Magazine

stigma and discrimination play in their health and wellbeing.

Included in the interim findings were: • Children aged five to 17 years with same-sex attracted parents showed a significantly better score on general health and family cohesion when compared to Australian children from all backgrounds and family contexts.

• For all other health measures there were no statistically significant differences “There are an increasing number of children with same-sex attracted parents in Australia.

International research to date has suggested that these children are doing well in many aspects of their lives, however they are often affected by the discrimination that their families may experience due to parental sexual orientation,” Dr Crouch said.

“These results are promising and we look forward to further findings which we expect later this year,” he said.

MKB

Review | Wilde Stages

A Review of Brian Merriman’s

Wilde Stages in Dublin – A Decade of Gay Theatre

Between directing the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival since 2004, writing plays, a foray into film, and fund-raising for charity, you would have to wonder where Brian Merriman got the time, or energy, to write a book. Yet this he did when he penned Wilde Stages in Dublin – A Decade of Gay Theatre.

The book’s style is unusual, in that it has different strands throughout. One strand is a timeline of the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival from 2004, interspersed with anecdotes about the various characters he came across; actors, agents, producers and directors. Some of these he admired and respected after the festival, and some showed their worst sides.

Another strand throughout the book is a history of the gay movement in Ireland, its

trials and tribulations, and the prejudices that a theatre director, who tries to put on a gay theatre festival, had to face, including when trying to get funding.

There is also the strand in which the festival, which Merriman had founded and nurtured, was being whisked out from under his feet, and it took legal action to get it under his protective wings once again, now in a slightly revised form.

This book could very well have been expanded into three books – a timeline of the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival as it became the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, a kiss-and-tell of the trials and tribulations which accompanied that becoming, and a history of the gay movement in Ireland, of which Merriman has seen both the best and the worst.

Perhaps the time has come for writing such books, as Merriman states towards the end of Stages:

My wish is that my own role will now diminish as others step up to invigorate this event with new ideas and voices, to bring it through its second decade.

Wilde Stages in Dublin – A Decade of Gay Theatre is now available from gaytheatre.ie – MKB EILE Magazine 29

Column | Manners

Burma: Torture of LGBT

By Police The Asian Human Rights Commission is monitoring police targeting of gay and transgendered people in Burma, (Myanmar). It has received detailed information on cases of alleged arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of persons on the grounds of sexual orientation. In a report on 22nd July, it stated: The AHRC is troubled both by the manner in which this minority group appears to have been deliberately targeted by the police, and by the implications of these police abuses not only for the rights of minorities in democratizing Burma, but also for the rights of all people living there.

Police in Mandalay appear to have been targeting gay and transgendered people, for assembling in some public areas of the city. Police say they are simply removing anyone causing a disturbance to the public, however, the AHRC feel that they have been “specifically targeting gay and transgendered people”.

For instance, on 7 July 2013 a group of around 20 ununiformed men—some police, others local administrators or other unidentified persons—descended on the area outside the Sedona Hotel in Mandalay and assaulted a group of gay and transgendered people there, pushing, hitting, handcuffing them and pulling off their garments in public before loading them on to a number of vehicles. Once in custody, police continued to abuse the group of 11 detainees, hitting and kicking them constantly, stripping them naked in the public areas of the Mandalay Regional Police headquarters, photographing them, forcing them to hop like frogs, forcing them to clean shoes and tables, to walk up and down as if on a catwalk, uttering obscenities at them, and otherwise physically and psychologically demeaning them. One of those detained said that a police officer interrogated her at length about her sexual activities and preferences, where she usually hangs out, and later tried to lure her to come back with him after leaving the police station.

30 EILE Magazine

On release, some are being forced to sign pledges that they will not go to public places, or wear women’s clothing.

A police spokesman, Police Major SoeNyein, told one news agency that the police were doing a public service in stopping the community from congregating, and that the police had “released them after educating them and obliging them to sign a pledge” the contents of which were not mentioned [..]. In another report the same policeman is quoted as saying that, “We had to detain the fags because they were causing a disturbance to passers by at the moat, by doing and saying whatever they like… homosexuality is not in accordance with law. If people complain, we’ll take action” Reports on these incidents can be found at Irrawaddy Burmese, and again here.

The Asian Human Rights Commission continues:

…..no law exists in Burma to prohibit homosexuality, or the congregating of homosexual people in public places, which is why police who pursue them are forced to use obscurely worded sections of antiquated, colonial-era laws…

The Asian Human Rights Commission has been informed that some of the gay and transgendered people detained and tortured in Mandalay intend to lodge complaints against their abuse with the authorities, including with the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission. It strongly supports the initiative to lodge complaints, and calls on all

Feature | LGBT Media

agencies that receive the complaints to treat them with the utmost seriousness, and to investigate them with a view to having criminal charges lodged against the police responsible for these offences. It also calls on the domestic media and civil society groups for their support for these complaints.

MKB

The AHRC also calls on the Myanmar government to join the UN Convention against Torture, and to amend the Police Act, which gives police the authority to act with impunity as regards how to treat those arrested, and also allows them to extract fines when, in fact, no law has been broken.

This month’s cover with thanks to Michael Popp in NYC Portrait of Adam Goldman see more at mikepopp.com

Back Cover with thanks to Honey and the Moon Photography, Belfast See more at: honeyandthemoonphotography. co.uk

EILE Magazine 31

Health | Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C Infection & Treatment Last year, September, 2012, the Irish Government launched its National Hepatitis C Strategy.

Hepatitis C (HCV) is a bloodborne disease, and it is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 people in Ireland are affected.

Here, Dr. Shay Keating, of the Harold’s Cross Surgery, explains what exactly HCV is, and the treatments that are available: Hepatitis C (HCV) is the most common cause of chronic viral infection in the western world.

First identified in 1989, at least six genotypes (subtypes) have been identified worldwide but genotype 1 and 3 are commonest in Ireland.

Routine blood testing was unavailable in Ireland before 1991. Since then however, the mode of transmission has been shown to be primarily parenteral (blood to blood), formerly by blood products, and recently by intravenous drug use, with needle sharing. The risks of infection by sexual and mother to baby transmission are thought to account for less than 1% and 5% respectively.

HCV infection in the drug using community is widespread with as many as 62 – 80% of intravenous drug users believed to be infected.

It represents a major healthcare 32 EILE Magazine

problem for those involved in the care of drug addicts Chronic HCV infection is often silent, is frequently discovered only at routine blood testing and is believed to occur in at least 70% of patients infected: 30% are believed to clear the virus without treatment. Most people infected do not have symptoms in early disease.

Diagnosis of HCV infection depends on a high level of suspicion, coupled with the detection of antibodies to HCV. A diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C can be made by detecting the HCV virus genetic material in the blood (HCV RNA). HCV-RNA positive patients may be referred for liver biopsy to determine the extent of liver damage.

Treatment is offered to those with chronic active disease (persistent viraemia).

HCV infection is self-limiting in a percentage of infected individuals.

The prognosis in chronic infection varies greatly but it would appear that 30% of patients ultimately develop cirrhosis and disability from end stage liver disease within 30 years. Factors affecting prognosis include age at time of infection, cross addiction with alcohol, co-existing HIV and/or HBV infection and genotype.

IDUs in Ireland are most commonly affected with either genotype 1 or 3.

Currently, dual therapy with pegylated interferon alpha, and ribavirin given appear to be the most clinically relevant disease modifying agents available.

The pegylated interferon is administered subcutaneously (under the skin) once a week and ribavirin is taken orally twice a day. Treatment is genotype dependant, 24 weeks for genotype 3 and 48 weeks for genotype 1. A sustained viral response is documented by a negative HCVRNA six months after treatment completion. The response rate to treatment with genotype 3 is as high as 80%, approximately twice as effective as with genotype 1.

There are new HCV drugs coming on line in the coming months which will improve treatment outcomes for many.

Dr. James (Shay) N. Keating, BA Mod, MB, PhD. MRCP, Dip GUM, Dip Occ Med., has his clinic at the Harold’s Cross Surgery, Harolds Cross, Dublin 6W, and is an Associate Specialist in Genitourinary Medicine, at St. James’s Hospital, Dublin.

For more information contact stdclinic.ie Phone: 01-497 0022 or +353 87 234 5551

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Frances Winston found the female version of the cop-buddy movie with Sandra Bullock funnier than expected Directed by: Paul Feig - Starring: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Dan Bakkedahl, Demián Bichir, Tom Wilson, Michael Rapaport, Marlon Wayans, Jane Curtin , Joey McIntyre The cop-buddy movie is nothing new, but traditionally those buddies are male so this turns the idea on it’s head, pairing Bullock and McCarthy as two female law enforcement officers reluctantly forced to work together, who ultimately end up bonding. Well actually it clearly doesn’t turn it that much on its head as that sounds like the plot of every single cop-buddy movie ever made. However, McCarthy and Bullock riff off each other really well, and thankfully, producers resisted the urge to give them love interests, which would make this more rom-com than cop-comedy.

Bullock plays FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn, who is intuitive, brilliant, overachieving - and hugely unpopular with her colleagues due to her arrogance. In the hope of getting a promotion, she agrees to go 34 EILE Magazine

to Boston to try and nail a drug dealer called Larkin. As she starts making arrests, she steps on the toes of Detective Shannon Mullen, the freewheeling wild card of the Boston PD, but rather than separating them the mismatched pair are ordered to work together.

Their methods initially clash, but when Shannon’s brother gets out of prison and rejoins the gang led

by Larkin, the stakes are suddenly upped. The pair have to learn how to work together, in order to save Shannon’s entire family and Sarah’s career.

I actually didn’t hold out much hope for the premise of this movie, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is extremely funny. The two leads have a great chemistry, and neither of them is afraid of making themselves look silly in the name of comedy. Bullock has always done this kind of physical comedy well, and it is refreshing to see her back at it rather than the more serious fare she has been pursuing in recent years.

Meanwhile, McCarthy makes full use of her physical presence and ability to deadpan at even the most ridiculous scenario.

The supporting cast are all great.

It is lovely to see Jane Curtain (you might remember her in

Third Rock From The Sun) back on our screens, and New Kids on the Block (NKOTB) singer Joey McIntyre even has a small role as one of Shannon’s many brothers,which will definitely keep boyband fans happy. Most surprising is Marlon Wayans, who dispenses with his usual overthe-top gurning, to play the role of Sarah’s beleaguered colleague completely straight.

On the whole the story works.

There are a couple of convoluted plot points, and there is a LOT of telegraphing going on, but overall this is a decent enough tale, albeit one that has been done to death.

You can spot the ending coming a mile away, but having watched the characters’ friendship develop, it is what you hope for – even if it is a bit of a cliché.

This film is funnier than the trailers would have you believe, and could hopefully open more doors for female actresses to play these sorts of roles. The jokes come every few minutes, and there are enough twists and turns to keep you interested. It would be a shame if this got lost in the slew of blockbusters that are out at the moment, as it is definitely worth a look if you fancy having your funny bone tickled.

Reviews | Frances Winston

Frances Winston on Movies

Red 2 Directed by: Dean Parisot - Cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung-hun Lee, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren The first RED movie was one of the funniest movies of 2010, and turned the action genre on its head, featuring as it did acclaimed actors of a certain age, rather than young buff brats. Helen Mirren proved she could do kick-ass equally as well as elegant, and John Malkovich displayed a fantastic ability for shtick. Having enjoyed the first film so much, I was really looking forward to this sequel. However, second time around, some of the novelty has worn off the premise.

It picks up where the first movie left off, with Bruce Willis’ Frank Moses trying to live a normal life with his girlfriend Sarah (Parker).

Unfortunately, when you are ex-CIA, normal doesn’t really feature in your life, and when Moses is approached by Marvin (Malkovich) who claims that

people are following them, it isn’t long before he finds himself back in the fold, fighting to save the world.

It seems that Marvin and Frank have been listed as participants in a top secret operation called Nightshade, and they are forced to go on the run with Sarah, as they are pursued by several people who are all trying to kill them, including fellow former super-spy Victoria (Mirren).

As they traverse the world trying to get to the bottom of the mystery, they encounter old flames, old enemies and even someone they believed to be dead.

However, with time running out, Frank is forced to put Sarah in danger once again in order to save the day.

This film lacks much of the charm and novelty of the first film. The plot is very, very complex, and cold war plotlines aren’t really relevant to younger cinema goers, who may find it protracted. Willis

and Malkovich once again provide a great double act (someone give these guys a TV show) and Mirren is fabulous as ever. Unfortunately, Catherine Zeta Jones’ Russian agent will leave you cold, and Anthony Hopkins’ Bailey is somewhat of a stereotyped mad scientist. The action scenes are good, and there are plenty of explosions and set pieces to keep audiences engaged, but there are also dozens of clichés throughout.

While this movie is entertaining enough, it does feel rather lacklustre. That said, a third outing is already in the works, but they need to reignite the wryness in the story.

This is a decent enough offering, that is let down by a lack of character development and a complex plot. It is worth watching just to see these big names in action, but it lacks the naïveté and charm of the original.

EILE Magazine 35

History | Marie-Antoinette

Poor Souls Marie-Antoinette and Early LGBT Literature

Gareth Russell looks into the early life of the ill-fated French Queen

“Brockett pointed to the simple garniture on the mantelpiece of the little salon, then he looked at Stephen: ‘Madame de Lamballe gave those to the queen,’ he murmured softly. … Presently they followed him out into the gardens and stood looking across the Tapis Vert that stretches its quarter mile of greenness towards a straight, lovely line of water. Brockett said, very low, so that Puddle should not hear him: ‘Those two 36 EILE Magazine

would often come here at sunset. Sometimes they were rowed along the canal in the sunset – can’t you imagine it, Stephen?

They must often have felt pretty miserable, poor souls; sick to death of the subterfuge and pretences.

Don’t you ever get tired of that sort of thing? My God, I do!’”

- From The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (1928)

There was a time, in the early twentieth century, when we can first begin to see a literary genre developing which attempted to deal with homosexual identities, and when the figure of the longdead Marie-Antoinette was seldom missing from gay-identity literature.

In Despised and Rejected, a novel written under a pseudonym

by Rose-Laure Allatini in 1918, two young girls struggle with their romantic feelings for each other. They project their feelings outwards, into an obsession with a play about Marie-Antoinette.

In 1933’s The Frost of May by Antonia White, the story’s central heroine falls in love with the most popular girl in boarding school

History | Marie-Antoinette – a gorgeous girl who is described as possessing ‘a haze of charm like Marie-Antoinette.’

The queen and her entourage also appear in The Well of Loneliness, Orlando, Extraordinary Women and Nightwood; in the 1950s, The Ladder, the first lesbian magazine in the United States, published a thoughtful article linking Marie-Antoinette to the study of homosexuality.

Last year, the French director Benoît Jacquet caused a stir when his movie Les Adieux á la reine hinted at a lesbian romance between Marie-Antoinette (played

by Diane Kruger, sporting more than a passing resemblance to the original) and the ravishing Duchesse de Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen).

This ‘herstory’ of MarieAntoinette has not been without its critics. One feminist scholar described popular lesbianism’s fascination with the eighteenthcentury queen as part of a worrying ‘apolitical, aestheticized, even reactionary subcultural phenomenon’. However, MarieAntoinette and lesbianism have a long association; it was, in a strange and tragic way, one of the things that killed one of her closest friends.

Marie-Antoinette, or MariaAntonia as she was in her native Austria, was married into the French royal family at the age of fourteen in 1770. Robbed of the company of her sisters, and subjected to a barrage of nagging letters from her imperial mother in Vienna, Marie-Antoinette was also barred by etiquette from developing any male friendships, let alone romances, and as a result, she threw herself into friendships with her ladies-inwaiting. These co-dependent teen affections were a gift to Marie-

Antoinette’s in-house detractors, who almost fell over themselves in their haste to imply that the relationships were sexual.

Thanks to an explosion in the printing capabilities of the Parisian media, it did not take long for these rumours to gain a wider audience. MarieAntoinette’s regal disdain for these ‘ridiculous stories’ did not change the fact that mud, when flung, stuck even more tenaciously in the eighteenth century than it does in the twentyfirst.

The most notorious of the queen’s favourites was the indisputably gorgeous Gabrielle de Polignac, a socialite, who was described by one eyewitness as being every bit as beautiful as a Raphaelite painting. It is Gabrielle who features in Benoît Jacquet’s filmic take on MarieAntoinette’s sexuality, but in reality ‘la belle Gabrielle’ was nothing like the smouldering temptress played by Ledoyen.

Lily-skinned, lilac-eyed, detached and polished to within an inch of her life, Gabrielle had far more in common with Fitzgerald’s Daisy Buchanan than she did with Angelina Jolie. By the 1780s, Gabrielle was regularly featuring in pornographic pamphlets attacking the queen, but it was another of Marie-Antoinette’s companions who really paid the price for the revolution’s infrequently-discussed, but virulent, homophobia.

Marie-Thérèse de Lamballe was a widow in her early twenties when Marie-Antoinette first met her.

Lamballe’s womanising husband had recently died, leaving his wife with an enormous fortune, and (I suspect) the tiniest of heartaches.

The Princesse de Lamballe was stupendously wealthy, highly sentimental and devoted to the

royal family. Since she did not need Marie-Antoinette’s financial generosity, they developed a friendship that endured for most of their adult lives, and it was Lamballe who, despite her family’s liberal politics, appeared most prominently in the erotic libelles demonising the queen as she reached maturity.

The torrent of anti-royalist and sexually explicit pamphlets (even today, they are so graphic that access to them is restricted by the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris) that showed Marie-Antoinette at the centre of a sexually, and therefore politically corrupt clique, resulted in the Parisian population regarding their king’s wife as almost non-human. The ultimate source of corruption her politics - were as unnatural as her libido.

In the provinces, MarieAntoinette was still regarded with patriotic devotion by much of the population, but in the capital, she was despised with a vitriol that still has the power to shock two centuries later. The untrue and absurd legend of her joking “Let them eat cake” is ironically by far the most benign of the allegations flung at an isolated, but essentially kind and decent, young woman.

The full impact of the libelles’ demonisation of ‘non-traditional’ sexualities came to a head in September 1792, the month after the monarchy in France was formally abolished. Madame de Lamballe had chosen to be imprisoned alongside the royal family, and she was sharing a prison cell at La Force with Madame de Tourzel, the former governess to the king and queen’s children, who had likewise chosen loyalty over flight. Whipped up by the press, a crowd attacked the prisons, and over the course EILE Magazine 37

History | Marie-Antoinette

of several days they butchered thousands in the name of ‘la patrie’.

En route to dinner in the city’s restaurants, bourgeois Parisians reported hearing the screams of the dying, and seeing the blood flow in the street drains. The famous republican politician, Danton, refused to condemn the slaughter, proclaiming that ‘Revolutions are not made from rose-water.’ The most high profile victim of that week was Madame de Lamballe.

Dragged from her cell to stand before an ad-hoc revolutionary tribunal, the princesse was asked to swear an oath of perpetual loyalty to the French nation. This she did, but when they demanded that she swear a second oath, vowing hatred against the institution of monarchy, she refused. She was taken out into the streets, stripped, assaulted, apparently gang-raped, and then bludgeoned to death before a cheering crowd. Her body was hacked to pieces, her limbs flung across the city,and her head brought to a local hairdresser who was forced to style Lamballe’s blonde curls into something like the style she had worn in life. Placed on a pike, it was paraded through the streets to the windows outside the Temple fortress, where the queen was incarcerated with her family. The crowd wanted the queen to appear on the balcony, to kiss the dead lips of her ‘lover.’ Hearing the jeers outside the window, MarieAntoinette collapsed in a dead faint.

In the years after the revolution, the murder of the Princesse de Lamballe became one of French royalism’s cultural 38 EILE Magazine

causes-célèbres; its savagery, its lawlessness and its gloating disregard for human life, were all held up as incontrovertible proof of the revolution’s inherent villainy. It shocked and galvanised the royalist faithful, and it became politically useful to the French Right, for all its horror.

For historians of homosexuality, it is useful for an entirely different set of reasons. The queen and Madame de Lamballe were the targets of such hysterical hatred, due in no small part to the propaganda which insisted they were sexually unnatural.

By the time people saw MarieAntoinette’s courage under pressure, so impressive it led to members of the republican crowd actually cheering her at her trial, it was too late to undo two decades of damage. MarieAntoinette was dead long before she stepped into the dock.

Was France’s most famous royal a lesbian? For what it’s worth, I would say that it’s incredibly unlikely that she was, despite how important women were in her life. Was Madame de Lamballe?

Well, there were no men in her life, so we cannot say ‘no’ with any degree of certainty, but a

cautious eye might opine that due to the abusiveness of her arranged marriage, and the teachings of her Catholic faith, Lamballe shied away from subsequent romances for reasons other than homosexuality.

Given all that, it might therefore seem strange that the two women were to be united again in LGBT literature a century after their deaths. However, the fact that the queen was accused of lesbianism, and that her reputation suffered so much because of it, means that she acquired an obvious utility for early gay activists.

The lynching of the Princesse de Lamballe in September 1792 was, to a very real degree, the result of the rumours concerning her intimacy with the queen. It might even be argued that it is almost irrelevant, culturally if not biographically, to ascertain MarieAntoinette and the Princesse de Lamballe’s ‘real’ sexualities.

The importance of their story for gay history is that the prejudices they provoked show how easily homophobia and misogyny could, and can, be used to further political ends.

The years between 1918

History | Marie-Antoinette

and 1939, when MarieAntoinette and Lamballe’s presence in LGBT literature was at its most prolific, witnessed an increased and conscious struggle for lesbian and gay rights, in the face of considerable social disapproval. In this environment, MarieAntoinette could be used to subtly suggest homoerotic possibilities. Like most

initial readers of The Well of Loneliness or The Frost in May, had Marie-Antoinette or Marie-Thérèse de Lamballe been lesbians, they would have had absolutely no choice but to repress their sexuality as best they could.

Today, when repression is increasingly seen as unnatural, and openness the norm, the queen and the

princesse have perhaps lost their potency in LGBTQ culture, but once upon a time, they were magical cultural talismans.

Marie-Antoinette, as a spectral guide in gay literature of the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s, became a kind of focal point for lesbian authors and their readers, as they searched for a stillelusive communal identity.

The charming queen and her friend, whose tragic deaths had been endlessly eulogised by nineteenth-century conservatives and romantics, suggested that it was still possible to be celebrated, adored and an important member of society, while having what some people believed was the ‘wrong’ sexual identity.

Did you know?

Eile Magazine publishes a weekly podcast, covering LGBT news and events at home and abroad. Download the latest episode for free, and don’t forget to subscribe to Eile on iTunes!

For more, visit:

eile.ie/podcasts

EILE Magazine 39

Art | Honey & the Moon

Jessica and Karolyn recently set up Honey and the Moon Photography, specialising in couples’ portraits and wedding shoots, for both gay and straight couples alike.The two Northern Irish girls took a moment from their busy schedule to talk to EILE about creating a moment that’s…

Picture Perfect 38 EILE Magazine

Art | Honey & the Moon

EILE Magazine 41

Art | Honey & the Moon Jessica & Karolyn are a couple living in Belfast, who decided to leave their day-jobs behind and set up Honey and the Moon Photography, which specialises in portraiture for couples on their special day. The pair recently put some of their work on public display at The Rainbow Project on Waring Street in Belfast, and Scott De Buitléir caught up with the girls to find out more.

SDB: First off, where did the name come from?

We had a lot of brainstorming!

After a lot of debate we decided upon Honey and the Moon. We wanted it to be fun and positive; and it’s a song we both love by Joseph Arthur. Now, we wouldn’t change it for the world! It also worked out really well because our twitter handle is @HoMoPhotography. We had to shorten it to fit in to Twitter’s specifications, and well, it’s reclaiming a very negative word, and we’re making it something positive, which we are all about!

SDB: How did you both come to be working together?

We met through an online dating service, which will remain nameless, and had our first date on the 5th January 2012. Since then we’ve been inseparable, moved in with each other and started a business together.

People could say we’re crazy putting that kind of pressure on our relationship but it hasn’t affected us, if anything it has brought us closer together.

Karolyn is the photographer and I [Jess] take care of the admin and assist on photoshoots. We live in Belfast, love coffee, beer and food and we have a dog called Phoebe.

Between us we’ve done every 42 EILE Magazine

job imaginable but everything came to a head when Karolyn was working in a utility company and she just hated it, I also had an office job and wanted to leave too. We hated the restriction, how mundane it was, and the lack of responsibility.

Karolyn had the skill and we both had years of experience of customer service, so we thought running our own business would be a good option, but it takes a ton of hard work, sacrifice and a lot of risks. We have spent the past year working on this, and everything is just starting to come together now.

SDB: The quality of your photography is absolutely stunning and so professional.

What is it that catches your eye before it catches your lens?

Karolyn has always been into photography, she took her first photo when she was six and hasn’t been able to stay away from the little black box since! She applied to study photography at 21 and got in to her course based entirely on her portfolio. She specialised in wildlife and nature photography, so she has always had an interest in the little details, colour and light. This transfers seamlessly to wedding and lifestyle photography.

SDB: How did the exhibition in Belfast’s Rainbow Project come about?

One of the guys in the Rainbow Project, James, approached us.

He asked if we would like to display some work as part of “The Big LGBT Health Fair”. It was a health and wellbeing fair being run in their building, promoting

a healthy lifestyle as part of Belfast Pride week. They had lots of things; drugs and sexual awareness, manicures, skin care advice and even Swedish massage! It was fantastic to be involved and a wee bit weird, hearing lots of positive feedback from everyone that had seen the images. Our work is now permanently on display in the Rainbow Project, and as we add to our portfolio we will rotate the photographs to keep the charity bright and colourful, and most importantly, show positive images of gay people for everyone that accesses the Rainbow Projects services!

SDB: From a photographer’s perspective, what do you find unique about gay & lesbian couples in NI?

Simply, there is nothing unique about them. We treat every couple exactly the same. It’s their love for each other that we want to capture. We don’t specifically market ourselves as a gay business. Yes we are lesbians and we love the community, but we know that true love shouldn’t be hindered by your sex, gender or sexual orientation. We are, in sense, blinded by the love and don’t care which boxes people fit in to! We are an everyone friendly business.

We also have the unique perspective as gay women that we instantly understand a gay couple’s dynamic, something that heterosexual photographers may struggle with.

We are aware too that this type of photography isn’t available EILE Magazine 43

Art | Honey & the Moon

to LGBTQ people easily. There is always a fear that when you seek any type of service, especially when you are trying to organise your wedding/ civil partnership, that you have to out yourself, and the risk of being declined services because of who you are is a negative cloud hanging over you, when it should be an exciting and happy experience.

SDB: What next? Will you continue to focus on alternative weddings? Do you think marriage equality in England & Wales will change the game in Northern Ireland? I’d imagine that the love shown in the photos doesn’t rely on legal situations, but maybe it would on photography business?

We love all types of weddings, from the traditional to the never been seen before, because for the people getting married, it’s one of the most important days of their lives, and the love that you can feel just by witnessing it, is spectacular!

Karolyn’s style of photography lends itself to the alternative wedding market, and those weddings that are a little bit different are always the most interesting to photograph. If we see the couple has spent a lot of time and effort creating their own perfect day, then that gets us excited! Especially if they have included nerdy details, because we are geeks at heart!

We were over the moon the day that equal marriage passed for England and Wales, but it was bittersweet too because in Northern Ireland, although technically British, we don’t have the same civil rights as our friends who live across the water.

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We don’t think equal marriage in England and Wales will change the game in Northern Ireland; civil partnerships will still go ahead. We doubt that many people will up-sticks and move permanently across the water for marriage rights, rights that will soon come to our wee bit of the world any way it’s just a matter of time. And we don’t think it will increase the frequency of gay or lesbian marriages, but we hope that more couples find out we exist, that we travel all over the UK, Ireland and beyond, and that they can have a good quality photographer that is truly gay friendly!

Next on our to do list is being part of Quirky Weddings in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast on 15th September. We will be exhibiting exclusively at this particular fair as it’s the only fair in Northern Ireland that we feel fits our ethos.

And of course we have weddings, weddings, babies, couples, pets, weddings, engagements and more weddings keeping us busy at all times!

We also have a few very interesting side projects coming up that we have to keep quiet about for now, but EILE will be the first to know!

Opinion | Baton Rouge

Sheriff Uses Outdated Law Frances Winston looks at the notorious Baton Rouge sheriff whose legal attitude towards gay men was a decade out of date.

Last week it was revealed that Sid J. Gautreaux III, the Democratic Sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, had been taking rather extreme action regarding the members of the gay community in his town. Under his command his officers posed as gay men online and arranged to meet people in parks, where they then lay in wait to arrest them. We are not talking about prostitution here – just regular guys who wanted to hook up. However they found themselves victims of an obscure Crimes Against Nature law!

Deputies also hung around parks looking for people that were potentially cruising, and offered them some “fun” before clapping them in irons when they accepted.

This happened as recently as July 18, when a deputy tempted a cruising gay with an offer of “some drinks and some fun” in a nearby apartment, while his colleagues taped their interaction and then arrested the man. At least a dozen men have been arrested in this manner since 2011, and although none were actually prosecuted, it just shows how over-zealous officialdom can get in its attempts to make examples of those that they deem to be different.

Shockingly, the Crime Against Nature law that he was using to justify this had actually been rendered unenforceable by the

Supreme Court 10 years, ago when it was declared that such laws are unconstitutional. That didn’t stop Gautreaux though – despite the fact that the local District Attorney refused charges every time. Indeed it took gay groups rounding on him, when news of his over-zealous law enforcement got out to the world at large, for him to even issue an

apology.

His office released a statement saying: “The Sheriff’s Office has not, nor will it ever, set out with the intent to target or embarrass any part of our law-abiding community… We will consult with others in the legislative and judicial branches to see what can be done to remove this law from the criminal code that each deputy receives and to also find alternative ways to deter sexual and lewd activity from our parks.”

Even this is designed to embarrass those who did nothing more than try to hook up with a like minded individual. Given the fact that homosexuality was illegal and subject to harsh punishments for so long, the gay community have always been slightly clandestine when it comes to hook ups. It’s in our DNA. Historically you had to be. Those who enjoy cruising have certain things they look out for, and there are preordained areas where this practice occurs.

Equally, the gay community has long been a fan of internet meets, but there is no denying that you sometimes take your chances since people can disguise their true intention online – as shown

by Gautreax’s deputies. Every single online dating or hook up site advises to meet in a public place, which is just what they did – and they got arrested for it.

Although none of the men were prosecuted, they all had to go through the trauma of being thrown in a cell before bail was set. This was surely a frightening and embarrassing experience for them. They would have worried about people finding out, and the stigma of being arrested would stay with them.

This is discrimination in its purest form. Those deputies could have used similar methods to EILE Magazine 45

Opinion | Baton Rouge entrap prostitutes or drug dealers – people who were actually breaking the law – but instead they were ordered to target a section of the community that is already quite vulnerable. I’ve been to small town America, and it really is an exercise in conservatism where to be different is to be ostracised. It is hard enough to be gay and out in some places, without being subjected to persecution too.

This also reeks of hypocrisy.

If Gautreaux has such an issue with homosexuality ,why get his apparently straight alpha male deputies to pose as gay men? Of course, since his methods were “outed” and greeted with outrage, it makes attempting to implement any more similar arrests impossible. But if someone has such an issue with a community they don’t generally leave it at

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that. Could there possibly be yet another obscure law that he could try to enforce in order to keep gay men off the streets?

Law enforcement officers are supposed to look out for their entire community – not just those they deem decent citizens. Even lifelong criminals are innocent till proven guilty and entitled to justice and not prejudice – something not afforded to these men.

If two adults consent to have sex, and no money changes hands, and nobody gets hurt, this is perfectly legal. The men arrested only did what I am sure many of the straight men in Baton Rouge do every weekend – they went out in the hopes of getting laid. It is a basic human instinct. Just because the gay community usually have fewer places to go to meet like

minded people, it doesn’t make it any less primal or normal.

Gautreaux may think he was “protecting” the cities parks, but all he was doing was inciting stereotypes and hatred. Personally, I don’t think a man capable of such bigotry should be allowed to hold such a high profile office.

Heaven forbid one of those gay men get queer bashed – would Gautreaux’s office be able to investigate it in an unbiased manner?

It seems unlikely, which means he is not up to the job of serving and protecting all his citizens.

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Image: Honey and the Moon Photography

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